4 ms·
This is a good example of where they is extra confusing too. It would be better if English had separate singular/plural versions of they. If Sarah goes by ‘the
by persolb 3y ago
This is a good example of where they is extra confusing too. It would be better if English had separate singular/plural versions of they.
If Sarah goes by ‘they’, “They was pissed” sounds wrong and most people would actually speak “they were pissed”… but now it is a three way ambiguity: Julia pissed, Sarah pissed, both pissed.
This feels like an example of a bigger failure mode, but I can’t nail it down. Something like ‘groups are resistant to short term change even if it is a clear Pareto improvement’
- specialist 3y agoYa. I preferred the sci-fi narratives with zir, zim, etc. But nobody asked for my opinion. The history of pronouns for female, male, neuter, and none-of-above tracks with cultural notions. English's pronouns will mosdef evolve to accommodate the new norms. We're merely in a transitional phase.